As a close friend of Princess Beatrice and celebrities including Dame Joan Collins and model Jodie Kidd, celebrity nutritionist and nutraceutical expert Gabriela Peacock is the go-to person for healthy eating advice.
Known for her nutrition and lifestyle tips with her business GP Nutrition, Gabriela, 45, teamed up with HELLO! to delve into the fridge of one of her many famous friends, the author and journalist Celia Walden and her straight-talking broadcaster husband Piers Morgan.
Sitting with the star couple in their London home for our exclusive video content, she tells us: "Over several years of practice, I've learned that what we eat shapes more than just our bodies – it influences our energy, sleep, mood, and overall wellbeing."
And as she prepares to peek inside their fridge, she maintains: "Remember, this is a judgment-free zone because we all deserve a little treat sometimes."
Piers's little treat is evident when Gabriela opens the fridge, as she finds a bottle of Lucozade and a packet of pork pies in the door.
"That's not me, I have nothing to do with that," insists mum of one Celia, 49.
"That's only when I'm sick or hungover," says Piers, 59, of the guilty pleasures, citing his recent "severe man flu" as the reason.
"But here's the thing, I'm very happy with how I look; other people may not be. We were out with Joan Collins the other night, and she was fat shaming me. I was like: 'Look, I have a good life, I'm very happy with how I look.' I don't look in the mirror and go: 'Oh my God, this is awful, get on a crash diet immediately.' I see Brad Pitt staring back at me."
Lurking in the fridge
Lucozade and pork pies aside, our video shows Gabriela having a rummage around the healthier sections of the Walden-Morgan fridge as she critiques the food they eat and advises what they could do differently.
Celia explains her eating habits are entwined with her schedule: "I do have a very busy lifestyle. Constant jet lag, up at odd moments in the night and, as a writer, you're always going back and forth to the fridge."
"There are a lot of yoghurts in here," notices Gabriela. "I thought yoghurts were good for you," says Celia.
"They are, but it depends what kind. Some are fantastic like kefir yoghurts, which have really good bacteria in them; some of them are a little more questionable."
Holding Celia's Fage Total 0% Greek yoghurt, she explains: "This has protein in and water, but the majority of the fat has been removed, so you're only taking one macronutrient, which is protein.
"It's not going to harm you, but it's not as good as mixing fat and protein together, which takes much longer to digest and makes you feel fuller for longer. Full-fat products are much better for balancing your blood sugar levels, and ultimately for your weight loss or weight management."
Overall, Gabriela is not a huge fan of excessive dairy and spots a fair amount of cheese in the fridge. Then there's the Babybels. "Who eats these?" she asks. "Oh, I do," admits Celia, "They're light, so I assumed that was good…"
"Dairy milk, especially cow's milk, is quite a big molecule and if you eat it on a daily basis, you will become intolerant," Gabriela explains. "If you have it in a form of yoghurt, kefir or cheese, it's better for you than if you drink it because it is just a giant protein molecule."
"What about oat milk?" asks Celia, who says she started drinking it because she heard it was good, but then found conflicting information.
"It's absolutely fine but don't go crazy," she's told. Nut milks, says Gabriela, are lower in carbohydrates than oat milks – and some are more protein heavy, with good fats and omega 3.
"Omega 3 does so many things within the body. It's anti-inflammatory and fantastic for your skin and hair health. Soya, I don't like – it disturbs hormones."
Celia and Piers's fridge is stocked with oily fish, fruit and vegetables and berries. The couple also have bottles of bone broth, which contains collagen and some sources say is amazing for skin and joints, while Celia shares that she loves eating eggs for breakfast, which Gabriela says are rich in protein, good fats and B vitamins.
"What is your relationship with diets and dieting?" asks Gabriela.
"Well, I definitely used to diet when I was in my 20s, and now I don't because I just can't be bothered any more," says Celia. "I think something happens in your 40s where you find it very hard to motivate yourself to be unhappy. I don't want to feel deprived."
Recipe for maintaining balance
Gabriela advocates a diet plan for life rather than short-term diets and says: "I don't believe we should be perfect all the time. It is very much all about balance and enjoying your life. But at the same time, you want to feel great and you want to keep fit."
Asked about his strangest food combinations, Piers says: "A cheddar cheese and marmalade sandwich. Fantastic. Everyone will go 'yuck' until they try it, and then they'll go: 'Wow, Morgan's a culinary genius.'"
© Dave Benett/Getty Images for GabHe also reveals how he "aced" a recent nutrition test after giving up alcohol for seven months when Covid affected his taste buds.
"If you don't put wonderful French wine by the gallon into your body, or eat fabulous French cheese, you could actually be really nutritionally fit. The problem is you die of boredom," he says.
"So that is my moral quandary… you become Mr Dullsville, and I would rather take my chances with the Grim Reaper and go out on a Lucozade-pork pie bang!"
Find out more about Gabriela's work: https://gpnutrition.com/
